A reflection on the Self Management Reflective Practices

A reflection on the impact of the Self Management Reflective Practices.

Self Management Reflective Practice (SMRP) is training delivered by the Self Management Team. The session is designed with the voice of lived experience at its heart. It allows staff working or studying in health and social care settings to look at what they are already doing to support self management and at how to further strengthen their approaches and access to relevant support.

Over the years, the Self Management Team have held over 20 sessions encouraging practitioners to reflect back on their practice with the aim to improve their practice. They did this by supporting the SMRP participants to understand what self management means to them, by giving them techniques to support self management and by assisting them in exploring challenges and solutions within their own workplaces.

Reflections allowed practitioners to re-focus their approach within their practice and to support individuals accessing services in a more person centred way. Participants viewed self management as a holistic approach towards the individual, as empowerment, as effective communication, as receiving a quality service and as partnership working. By adopting these five interconnected pillars, practitioners believed that self management gives the opportunity for the individual to take ownership of their condition through receiving a proactive and flexible service where communication is clear and non-judgemental across all parties involved, and where both practitioners and the individual work in collaboration to break down barriers by, for example, considering the person’s circumstances such as socio-economic status rather than just the condition(s) the individual lives with.

Discussing techniques during the SMRP sessions provided a place for participants to share their experiences and, by bouncing off ideas, to return to their practice with fresh plans and new connections. Practitioners are encouraged to use techniques both in preparation and during their meeting with the individual accessing the service. As a preparation, gathering information, sharing good practice amongst colleagues, training and network building can all enhance the level and accuracy of support given by the specialists. During meetings, screening tools, signposting, and setting up realistic goals are all shown to support individuals’ self management.

The SMRP sessions also propose solutions to challenges. Challenges in three main areas hindered practitioners’ ability to support individuals with their self management; arising from systemic issues, from the perspective of people accessing services, and from other circumstances. The hierarchical system of the NHS Scotland, the lack of time and funding affected every SMRP participant. Additionally, they were often met with a lack of engagement, unrealistic goal settings or the reluctance to be helped from the individual who accessed the services. These issues were exacerbated by other problems such as competing priorities, not being able to build trust or not having sufficient knowledge of a specific condition.

Recommended solutions included cooperating with colleagues and across services and learning from each other, managing people’s expectations and engaging in open and person centred communication with the individual accessing the service.

Looking back, the impact of the SMRP sessions is apparent. Through the practice, the Self Management Team can support practitioners to understand what self management means to them, to learn techniques to support self management and to explore challenges and solutions within their respective workplaces. Looking forward, the Team hopes to deliver many more Self Management Reflective Practices to support self management across Scotland.

If you are interested, please get in touch via SMNS@alliance-scotland.org.uk. You can also read more about the learning gathered from the SMRP sessions by reading our flash report below.

End of page.